Application of Cognitive Heuristic by Young Adults in Evaluating Social Media News
Author : Prativa Rai and Dr. Shashikant Sharma
Abstract :
Social media popularity has changed the way people consume news. Young adults who are a big section of social media consume their news when using social media, which aligns with their busy lifestyle. However, the absence of conventional gatekeeping procedure and abundant information overwhelms and challenges cognitive ability of users than ever before. The use of mental shortcuts called heuristics are applied to make quick and effective decisions, given the fact that human cognitive ability is bounded. This qualitative research through focus group discussion examined methods of news evaluation commonly used in a social media environment. Based on interpretative analysis, participants were found using source credential, message acceptability and individual attributes as evaluative measures. All these methods point to the use of heuristic cues or short cut methods which helped users to quickly identify a credible piece of news within the constraints of available time and resources.
Keywords :
Cognitive heuristic, social media, bounded rationality, online news credibility, young adults
